Publication Order of Lydia Strong Books

This series follows Lydia Strong, a woman who’s mother was murdered when she was a kid; Lydia also came home one day and found her with her throat slit from ear to ear. She helped the police catch her mother’s killer way back when. This changed who she was, and would effect her development and make her who she would become. Now, she writes about killers-working as a true crime author and investigative consultant- and has an obsession: seeing brutal killers brought to justice.

Lydia has won a Pulitzer Prize for her writing about serial killers. She is also reclusive, and has the ability to see clues that other people cannot. She works with a friend that she has who used to work for the FBI named Jeffrey Mark. This man is the only friend that she has; due to the fact that she feels that if she lets herself get to close to someone, she will surely lose them. There is surely nothing about this woman that is simple; she is good at what she does but she is also flawed. You would be too if you walked in and found your mother dead at a very young age.

“Angel Fire” is the first book in the Lydia Strong series by New York Times Bestselling author Lisa Misicone (pen name for Lisa Unger) and was originally released in 2002 and was re-released in 2011 under the name Lisa Unger. This is Unger’s debut novel and is set in Santa Fe, New Mexico. When three loner and drifter adults go missing, only Lydia Strong notices that they have gone missing. With the help of her friend, Jeffrey Mark (a former FBI agent), the two start their own investigation into where the three have gone. It’s not long before someone goes after Lydia, just like when Lydia put the FBI on the trail of her mother’s killer.

This book currently has 178 five star reviews on Goodreads. Fans of the book like the way the author writes, they find it crisp and haunting; they also feel that the characters are real, and by reading the book, you actually get to know real people. Fans also found the book to be unputdownable, and find themselves to be lucky that they get to be along for the whole fascinating journey. Readers found Lydia to be understandable, even if the way she pushes people away to be off putting and was not endearing.

Some found the ending to be a retread of other stories, and was a forced confrontation that features the leading lady doing something stupid to bring the case to a close. Readers did not like the way that Lydia helps the villain out of a fire that he had set- at one point, she even drops a gun that she was holding to help him out. Some did not like Jeffrey when he was simply giving in to Lydia and not standing up to her in anyway. Readers who did not like the book found it to be simply an average read, an example of not the best but not the worst either.

“The Darkness Gathers” is the second book in the Lydia Strong series by Lisa Misicone (pen name for Lisa Unger) which was originally released in 2003 and re-released in 2011. After getting back from a tour promoting her last book, Lydia gets a message in the mail. They did not leave a name, but they want her to find and provide protection for a woman Tatiana Quinn, as well as any other girls in need of being rescued. She takes the case, whether it is because of the plea strikes close to her heart or her investigative interest is piqued. It becomes much bigger, pretty fast. Someone wants Lydia to let go of the case, someone who brings her back in touch with someone she thought she had gotten rid of long ago. She must fight off the man who wanted her dead from ages ago, and track down a missing teen.

This book currently has 95 five star reviews on Goodreads. Fans of the book liked that this one was just as much fun, complex, scary, and intriguing as the first book. Fans liked the plot twists the depth of the characters, as well as all the locations that were explored in the book; all these things set this series apart from all the detective series out there today. Readers also liked that she developed Jeffrey and Lydia’s relationship some in this book. And yet again, readers were pulled in right from the very first chapter, and they had to stay up all night long to finish the book. Readers found that Unger was able to improve as a writer with this book, and she did a better job in this book than she did with the first book. Some found the depiction of human trafficking to be realistic, compelling, and believable.

Readers did not like the way the author shifts points of view within the same scene, they said it was an amateur mistake; they also found the main characters to be too pretty and live too well to actually exist in the real world. Some found her ability to be talked about, but you never really never see that ability in action for a lot of the book. They also found the plot of the book to be far fetched. They found Jeffrey to be a little weak as well, they thought he needed to stand up for himself and tell Lydia that she had come up with a stupid idea that would get them both killed, and work his own cases, not just the ones that Lydia was working on.

Harlan Coben has praised Lisa Unger’s writing and urges people to read her books. Anyone who has not read her books yet, needs to fast. They will not regret it.

The series only has four books to it and is the earliest published writing that the author of the books, Lisa Misicone, has done.

With the latest book in the Gray Man series by Mark Greaney coming out soon, we wanted to make the very first book in the series our book of the month.

Greaney is an incredible author and if you love the "lone badass" type of books then you will LOVE the Court "Gray Man" Gentry series. Read more about it.

Featured Series

It might seem like overkill, but we're giving The Gray Man series our featured series of the month.

Honestly this is such a great series and we feel not enough people read it so we want to push it. Read more about The Gray Man series and seriously if you haven't read it - start! Amazing thrillers.

Featured Author

Mark Greaney is an incredibly talented author. Not only does he write the Gray Man series however he also writes various Jack Ryan novels. Many feel he is the best writer of them and he truly is a great author. We're happy to award our author of the month to Mark Greaney.

Did You Know…

Besides short story and novel writing, Clive Barker has been actively involved in screenwriting and film production. His early screenplays include Underworldand Rawhead Rex but after witnessing the disappointing picturization of his work, Barker went on to discover the art of filmmaking on his own. He produced The Forbidden and Salome to lukewarm response. He also directed several of the stories from The Book of Blood. Two of his acclaimed major motion pictures include Candyman series and the Hellraiser.